Always With You
by prouvaires
Summary: And they're forced to work together, whether they like it or not. --but Chad's not going to tell her that secretly he's treasuring every goddamn second-- --and nothing on Earth will make Sonny give away her real feelings-- ChadSon, rating for language.
1. Chapter 1

**So this is a story that's been buzzing around my head for ages, and it distracted me for over half my geography GCSE this morning, so this is the thing to blame if I fail.**

**I know that NEPatriot97 has a storyline very similar, and don't worry, I've got her permission to use the same basic plotline.**

"_I'm coming out of my cage and I've been doing just fine, gotta be down because I want it all." – Mr Brightside, The Killers_

Chad throws himself down into a chair with an irritated huff and glares up at the tubby director from Chuckle City and Fat Pete, his own director (only don't tell him Chad calls him that, because then he'll make Chad film a scene he thinks is stupid).

Next to him, Sonny is watching with an amused eyebrow raised, and Chad shoots her a brief scowl and then turns his attention back to the two portly directors.

"Can we make this fast? I'm scheduled for a hair appointment in about ten minutes," Chad says boredly. Next to him, he can almost _see _Sonny biting her lip as she cuts back a sarcastic retort, and he smirks half-heartedly (because he knows her _oh-so-well._)

"We can make this as fast as you want it, Chad," Fat Pete says with a half-smile, and Chad is immediately on his feet.

"Excellent. Well, this is about how fast I want it," he says with a grin, and is halfway to the door before Sonny calls to him.

"Funnily enough, _Cooper_, I don't think they meant quite that fast."

"Whatever, Munroe," he says, returning to his seat with a heavy sigh, and pointedly glances at his watch. The tubby director (Chad's sure he'll remember the name in a moment) gets to his feet, and Chad watches with an eyebrow raised.

"The deal is, kids, that the media is feeding off your … ahem … _feud_ … like vultures from a carcass."

Chad and Sonny exchange a quick glance. It wasn't so much a feud, just … a strange sort of tension that found an outlet in constant fighting (at least the way Chad saw it).

"So, we've decided, with approval from Mr Condor, of course,"

"Of course," Chad replies with another heavy sigh, and Sonny shushes him impatiently.

"That we're going to _force _you two to work as a team."

Chad's on the alert in an instant. "I'm not participating in any sports or similar physical activities," he says quickly, and he can _sense _Sonny rolling her eyes.

"Chad, it wouldn't kill you to do some sports once in a while," she says with a grin in her voice, and Chad turns to give her withering stare.

"I go to the gym six days a week," he tells her, and then turns back to Fat Pete and the other guy. "So, how do you intend to force us to 'work together'?" He puts sarcastic emphasis on 'work together', and this time all the other three people in the room roll their eyes.

But then Fat Pete digs around in the desk for a minute and finds a pair of handcuffs. Chad experiences a brief moment of confusion.

"No way," Sonny says, getting to her feet. "I _refuse _to be handcuffed to _Chad Dylan Cooper _for any period of time. And if you make me I'll call the cops with complaints of physical abuse."

Chad grins slightly, momentarily distracted by Sonny (because she thinks she's being so tough but he can see her hands shaking).

"We're not going to _force _you into anything you don't want to do," the Chuckle City director says with a slight grin, and Chad is quite worried by the spark of evil that appears in his eyes for a brief second.

"But if you refuse, you're both off your respective shows for a month," Fat Pete explains with a satisfied beam of a smile.

"You can't do that," Chad says matter-of-factly as Sonny gasps in outrage beside him. "The viewings for both our shows will drop dramatically – Sonny's the most popular actor on her show, and you can't do Mackenzie Falls without _Mackenzie_." He says this quite slowly, as though explaining to an idiot, and then Sonny interrupts.

"You think I'm the most popular actor on So Random? Aw, Chad, I'm touched," she chuckles, pressing a hand to her heart. It's Chad's turn to roll his eyes.

"That's fact, Sonny, not my sentimentality." Then he turns back to the directors. "You can't be serious," he says with a frown. They both nod.

"We are. We already have scripts drawn up to explain your absence, Chad, and we'll put out a message to explain Sonny's if you refuse to agree."

Chad and Sonny glance at each other. "What's the conditions on the cuffs?" Sonny asks quickly, before Chad can screw things up by being any more egotistical.

"You wear them for the rest of today, we take them off so you can go home, and for two weeks, whenever you're not filming but are at the studio, you wear them."

Chad and Sonny exchange one final glance, then with a sigh of defeat Sonny extends her left arm. "For the fans," she says with a grimace. Fat Pete clicks one cuff onto her wrist, and then turns to Chad.

"Seriously?" he asks, one final attempt to deny the inevitable.

"Seriously," Fat Pete replies, and clicks the other handcuff onto Chad's right wrist. He gazes at it in disgust, noting that his hand hangs so close to Sonny's he can feel the heat off her skin (but that's not why his heart is beating harder suddenly).

"It's one hour until the end of the day, and I believe you have lessons to attend," the other director says, and Chad frowns, making a mental note to ask Sonny his name.

"Yeah, it's maths now," Sonny says, and Chad laughs.

"I don't do _lessons,_" he informs her with a smirk. "I'm a TV star. I don't need _school_."

In response, Sonny lifts her arm, and Chad's is pulled up by the cuff. He glares at her, but she doesn't shift an inch.

"School is really this important to you?" he asks incredulously.

"Well, Chad, some of us like to make provisions for the future," she says, and begins to attempt to drag him from the room. The two directors are watching from behind the desk, trying to smother laughter.

"Some us don't _need _provisions for the future," Chad sneers. "Some of us have good looks and skills at acting."

"Well, Chad, I know I don't really _need _schooling, for the reasons you've just mentioned, but I want to keep my grades up so my mother doesn't go all psycho-bitch on me again."

"I was talking about me," Chad says with the _talking-to-an-idiot _voice again, and they both totally ignore the splutterings about foul language from behind the desk.

"I know," Sonny replies, and then marches out of the room.

"If we weren't handcuffed together I would storm away right now," Chad says after a pause, following her down an unfamiliar corridor. Sonny throws him a quick grin over her shoulder, and otherwise doesn't reply (but that's not the reason for the warmth that floods all through him).

He follows her into a classroom and immediately sits down at the back and pulls out his iPhone. Sonny tries to go to the front of the room, ignoring the laughter of her cast-mates, but she's jerked backwards as Chad reaches for a book behind his desk, and the laughter grows louder. So Sonny, fuming, takes a seat at the desk next to Chad, their linked arms hanging in the aisle between them, and raises her free hand.

"Yes Sonny?" Ms. Bitterman asks, and Sonny does her best to force her features into her usual regular smile.

Chad watches in amusement as Sonny explains the situation to the teacher, and then his cocky smirk fades as the teacher turns her attention to him. He, Chad Dylan Cooper, is actually shrinking back from a _woman_. She marches up to him and whacks the chain that links the handcuffs with a ruler.

"You two are idiots. But I'm sure you realised that," she says, and then returns to the front of the room and starts explaining quadratic equations to the class. Chad pulls out his iPhone and starts texting. To his total amazement, two minutes later it's confiscated.

"You can't do that!" he protests loudly, getting out of his seat to follow the teacher as she goes to store the phone away. But Sonny has been waiting for this moment, and exacts revenge for the thin bruise that's forming around her wrist where he tugged on the cuffs before. Chad stumbles backwards, his shoulder twisting painfully. Sonny just looks at him with raised eyebrows, and his eyes gaze into hers for a moment (but he's not drowning in them, just studying them for a hint of remorse).

"That was unnecessary!" he says loudly, and she gets to her feet.

"Children," Ms Bitterman calls, moving towards them, but it's too late now.

"Was it Chad? Was it _really_?" Sonny retorts furiously, yanking on the cuffs again, and he stumbles again, tripping forwards but regaining his footing quickly.

"This is all your fault!" his voice has risen to a shout, and Tawni pulls out her phone and presses 'record'.

"_My_ fault?!" Sonny cries in astonishment. "_You're _the one who can't talk to me without starting an argument!"

"I never _start_ arguments," he replies with an angry scowl. "I finish them."

"You're such an immature asshole," Sonny says, almost spitting with rage, and then a ruler whistles down between them and strikes the chain between the cuffs again, distracting them. They both turn to face the teacher.

"Sonny Munroe, I never wish to hear such foul language in my classroom ever again!" she says angrily, and then turns to Chad. "You may not wish to be in my lessons, but you _are _and therefore you will conduct yourself properly. Both of you will, as of this moment, start behaving like responsible young adults instead of bratty six-year-olds."

She whirls and stalks up to the front of the classroom, and Chad catches sight of Sonny making a stupid face, and can't help the snigger that escapes.

"Right, out," the teacher orders instantly.

"What?" Chad asks, confused.

"Get out of my classroom. You may return tomorrow when you have learned how to behave. I expect you to copy up all work you miss," she says, and drives them from the room with the ruler, then slams the door. Chad and Sonny are left alone together.

"Nice one," Sonny says sarcastically, and Chad beams.

"Wasn't it? Right, we can go home now, so let's go get these fucking things off," he says, and Sonny gasps.

"Mind your language, please," she demands, and Chad sees her cheeks heat up in anger (and her eyes are sparking too and Chad's suddenly thinking that she looks really pretty when she's angry).

"You're the one who called me an asshole," he says, shaking his head to dispel all the errant thoughts and starts dragging her back to her director's office. The Chuckle City director glances up from a newspaper, and cocks his head to the side.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"It's time to go home," Chad says, and he and Sonny hold out their linked wrists in unison.

"But lessons are still going on," the director replies, and Sonny laughs.

"Well, Marshall, funnily enough we got thrown out."

Marshall sighs and digs around for a key. "If your grades drop, Sonny, you know your mother will be round here again," he says, pushing the key into the lock, and twisting. After a moment, with no freedom forthcoming, Sonny frowns.

"Marshall, what's wrong?"

"The key's stuck … hang on…" Marshall says, and then with a tearing noise Marshall is left holding the end of the key.

"Shit," Chad says, and pulls his wrist up to his eyes to examine. "The key's broken, and the head's stuck in here," he says, and spends at least ten minutes trying to free it while Sonny taps her foot impatiently.

"Chad, I get the feeling that's not going to work," she says eventually, and he shakes in head in denial.

"No," his voice is slightly strangled. "This cannot be happening," he says, straightening up. "I will not be _trapped _in handcuffs."

"Uh, Chad, as much as I hate to break it to you, I think you don't have a choice," Sonny tells him, patting his shoulder patronisingly. He shrugs her hand off quickly (he's _not _feeling sparks, it's just that the room's too hot).

He glares at them both for a moment, noting that Sonny seems to be slightly _enjoying _the ghastly situation. His voice his tight when he eventually forces some words out.

"So, what are we supposed to do?"

"Well, it's the end of the day now, so come back tomorrow and we'll get a locksmith in something," Marshall says, sliding out from behind the desk and making a dash for the door. Chad is so pissed off he doesn't remember to make a grab for him, and before he knows it he and Sonny are left alone (and he's not feeling nervous because she's alone with him, just because he hates being trapped).

Sonny sighs. "Chad, one night stuck with me isn't going to kill you. We'll get them off tomorrow."

"And where are we going to _sleep_?" Chad asks crossly, leaning against the edge of the desk and wanting to put his head in his hands but he can't because Sonny's got her arms folded across her chest.

"My mom's out of town," Sonny says thoughtfully, "so we can crash at my place. You can sleep on the floor."

"Gee, thanks," he replies, and runs a hand through his hair. "I have a better idea."

"Well, there's a surprise," Sonny remarks under her breath, and Chad catches it and smirks.

"We'll go to my house. I'm sure yours isn't good enough for me. And besides, you're sleeping on the floor."

"Am not!"

The argument carries them all the way out to the parking lot, and then they freeze, catching sight of several lurking photographers.

"What are we going to do?" Sonny's voice comes from next to Chad's ear, and he jumps and gives her an accusing glare. "What?" she mouths, not wanting to alert the photographers."

"Don't sneak up on me," he whispers crossly, and she rolls her eyes.

"Chad, we're _handcuffed _together. I'm always going to be right next to you."

He sighs and turns back to the paparazzi. "They'll have a field day if they find out we've been handcuffed together," he says and ponders it for a moment. Then Sonny snaps the fingers of her free hand

"Take my hand," she says, and grabs his hand. He tries to shake it away but the cuffs prevent it (because the tingle where their skin is touching can't be good).

"What are you doing?" he asks in astonishment as she pushes open the door, checking to make sure the cuffs are hidden by the jacket she's carrying.

"Let's give them a piece of gossip to chew over for months," she says, and as they cross the lot the cameras start snapping and the flashes are blinding Chad and suddenly they're at the car.

"Just do a casual slide," Chad says, and Sonny clambers over the gearstick and slides into the passenger seat as Chad gets into the driver's seat, and switches the engine on.

"Drive, pretty boy," Sonny says, and he half-grins and revs the engine, and then they're blazing out of the studio parking lot, leaving the photographers to eat their dust.

"Uh … Sonny, you can let go now," Chad says after a moment, realising as he reaches for the gearstick that she's still clutching his hand. She blushes and releases it, then turns to stare as the expensive Hollywood houses flash past. Chad keeps half his mind on driving and the other half on _not _concentrating on the girl in the seat next to him (because this is a weird feeling, and it's getting worse – he's sure it's just a fever coming on).


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! I'm updating super-fast as a thank you.**

"_Cause I just can't look its killing me; and taking control" – Mr. Brightside, The Killers_

Chad finally gets them both home in one piece and Sonny staggers out of the car, forcing him to stretch over the gearstick in a very uncomfortable position, and falls to the ground with an air of deep relief.

"Land!" she shouts, and when she hears a 'humph' of disgust, she turns around to find Chad glaring down at her. "What?" she asks innocently, and he rolls his eyes and turns around to slam the door of his expensive car.

"Temper temper," Sonny says with a laugh, following him round to his front door. His house is nice, in an over-the-top Hollywood kind of way. She can see a pool glinting in the sunlight, but as soon as she wishes she could get in it she remembers she's handcuffed to a triple-named moron, and therefore can't get into a swimming costume (although it would be nice to see him in some swimming trunks).

"Hey, Chad," she says conversationally as he searches for his keys. "How are we going to change our clothes?"

"You're the ideas girl, you figure it out," he replies, and pushes the door open. Sonny frowns and walks inside. He shuts the door behind her, and she hears footsteps on the stairs and then a small boy, who can't be older than four, dashes across the hallway and throws himself at Chad (and she's shocked to see him exhibiting _caring_).

"Hey Luke," Chad says, ruffling the boy's hair, and Sonny's trying to take in the fact that Chad has a brother when a little girl, who has the same blonde hair as Chad but stunning green eyes rather than blue, toddles towards Chad and launches her whole body at him. Chad does an impressive one-arm catch and scoops her up. She kisses him on the cheek, smearing him with chocolate, and then sees Sonny. She reaches out chubby arms and clutches with her hands.

"Fwend," she says, and Sonny can't help smiling. Chad manages to transfer his sister over just as Luke demands to be picked up, and Sonny suddenly finds her arms full of three-year-old. The little girl regards her seriously for a moment, then puts a chocolatey hand on Sonny's cheek.

"I Scar," she says with a smile, and Sonny glances over at Chad, who is trying to contain his little brother one-handed.

"That's Scarlett," Chad explains, and Sonny can feel his eyes on her as she turns her attention back to Scarlett (and it's sending tingles all up and down her body).

"Hi, Scarlett. I'm Sonny."

"Sonny. You Chad's girlfwend?" Scarlett asks innocently, and the reaction is instantaneous.

"No, he's not," Sonny protests immediately, just as Chad speaks too.

"Of course she's not."

The little girl smiles and glances between them. "Then why you holding hands?" she asks, and Chad and Sonny both glance down to where the cuffs glint on their wrists.

"We're not, Scar," Chad says quickly, putting Luke down and letting him scamper off. "We got tied up together."

Scarlett's brow knits and then she suddenly struggles to get down from Sonny's arms.

"Mummy!" she shouts in delight, and reaches over Sonny's shoulder for the harried-looking woman coming through the door.

"Hi Scar," she says, putting down carrier bags. Sonny just stares, trying to reconcile the happy family atmosphere with her mental picture of Chad's family, which involves a supermodel mother, an absentee father and definitely no cute younger siblings (and Chad acting a lot less friendly).

"Chad, did you get off early or something?" his mother asks, and then catches sight of Sonny.

"Oh, hi," she says, running a hand through her hair in a gesture so reminiscent of Chad that Sonny is smiling already. "I'm Melanie, Chad's mother. Call me Mel."

"Hi," Sonny says, reaching out to shake her hand. "I'm Sonny."

Mel steps back and looks shrewdly at the two of them, and Sonny's not sure why her face is heating up.

"So are you two dating or something?"

Chad laughs. "No, Mom, this is the Sonny I was telling you about. You know, the one who hates me?"

His mother laughs too, and glances at Sonny. "So if you hate my son why are you here? Not that I'm not delighted to have a guest," she adds quickly. In response, Sonny and Chad hold out their interlinked arms again.

"You got handcuffed together? By _who_?"

"Marshall," Sonny says at the same time as Chad says "Fat Pete."

"Your directors did this? And don't call fat, honey," she says admonishingly to Chad, who just shrugs.

"But he _is_."

"That doesn't mean you have to call him that. So, is there no way of getting you two out of those things?"

"We tried," Sonny says, and Chad interrupts.

"Yeah, we were supposed to only be locked up at the studio, but the key broke and got stuck in the lock," he explains, and his mother steps over to examine the cuffs quickly.

"They look pretty stuck," she comments eventually, and moves away again. "Chad, honey, could you and Sonny please go and get the groceries out of the car? And stop Lucas jumping in the pool, he's been trying to all day."

"Sure," Chad says easily, and Sonny follows him out, astonished that _Chad Dylan Cooper _actually followed a direct order and agreed to _work_ (who'd have thought?).

"They'll be gone soon," Chad says as he unloads a packet of celery from the boot of the car. "My mom drops in every now and again to restock the fridge. She thinks I'm starving," he says with a half-smile, and Sonny grabs a box of tomatoes and adds them to the pile on the ground.

"And you're not?" she asks. Chad just smiles again and carries on unloading. "Cat got your tongue, Cooper?" she inquires, nudging him with her elbow. He drops the box of eggs and there's a discouraging smashing noise.

"Shit!" Chad exclaims, and hurriedly picks the box of now-smashed eggs from the boot of the car. Then he rounds on Sonny. "Why'd you have to do that?!"

"Jeez, calm down, it was just an accident," she says, instantly on the defensive (and his nearness and the heat of his anger is making her body react in strange ways).

"An accident? Now I'm going to have to pay to get the car cleaned!"

"Relax, Cooper, there's no smooshed egg on the precious car," Sonny retorts, and Chad glares at her.

"Just be quiet now."

"You can't order me to be quiet!"

"I can order you to do whatever I want! I'm Chad Dylan Cooper."

"And I'm Sonny Munroe!" she shouts, and this is the moment at which she would normally storm off, but the cuffs prevent that.

"Yeah, that's not something I would be proud of," he replies cuttingly. He goes too far sometimes, and this is one of those times. Usually she runs off before he can see the tears in her eyes, but not today. She starts tugging and yanking at the cuffs desperately, and Chad watches in surprise as she deteriorates down into tears. She sinks to the floor, and buries her face in her hands. He hunkers down next to her unsurely.

"Uh, Sonny? What's wrong?"

She shoots him a brief glare. "If you don't know then you're even more of an idiot than I thought."

She huffs, and wraps her arms around her knees, forcing Chad to bend his arm awkwardly, but he senses now is not the time to mention it. So instead he leans uncomfortably and, unsure of what else to do, waits for her to stop crying.

Eventually his mother comes outside and finds him sitting on the ground, looking pissed off, next to a Sonny who still has her face pressed against her knees.

"Chad, what did you do this time?" Mel asks, kneeling down next to Sonny.

"Oh, it wasn't his fault, Mrs Cooper," Sonny says, looking up quickly and wiping her face (because he can't evereverever know how he affects her). "I'm just annoyed about the handcuffs."

His mother looks sceptical but doesn't press the point. "Well, we're off now, we've put more food in the fridge for you, Chad."

"Thanks," he says, glancing up at her, then back at Sonny, who's biting her lip and staring off into the distance.

"Um …" his mother starts, possibly unsure of how to go on, and then summons the courage. "Have you made any sleeping arrangements yet?"

"Chad's sleeping on the floor," Sonny says immediately.

"You sleep on the floor," he shoots back, and Sonny glares.

"Chad, I'm the girl, I get the bed."

"Well I'm the guy, so I get the bed."

"No, I do."

"I do."

"I do."

His mother watches with interest for several brief minutes, and then interrupts.

"Well why don't you _both _sleep in the bed?" she suggests, and Sonny shoots a quick look at Chad (because secretly she wants to see him sleeping, because she's sure he looks adorable when he sleeps).

"Only so long as we build a huge pillow barricade down the middle," Sonny demands, and Chad rolls his eyes.

"Sonny, it's not like I'd try anything on you. We hate each other, remember?"

"How could I forget?" she retorts, and gets up quickly (because this thing that she's feeling certainly isn't just _hate_). Chad scrambles up as well, and then hugs his mother awkwardly, one-handed, as she gets into her car, looking slightly worried that Chad and Sonny are going to kill each other when she leaves them alone.

"Chad!" Scarlett shouts, and once again jumps at him. He hugs her quickly, kisses her cheek, and then quickly passes her over to Sonny so he can grab at Lucas as he runs past, heading for the pool.

"Not today, Lukey," he says, and puts him into the car. Sonny carefully puts Scarlett in too, and then they stand, as far apart as possible, as the car drives off and they're left alone.

"Right," Sonny says, marching towards the car. Chad follows, wary of provoking more tears because they make him feel oddly uncomfortable.

"Where are we going?" he asks as they slide into the car, Sonny climbing over the gearstick again.

"We're going to my house so I can find some clothes," she explains, and tells him to take a left.

"You realise you can't change into them, right?" he says with a sigh as she directs him towards her house.

"Well, I'm sure even you've noticed it's summer now, right?" she says with a slight grin, and Chad appears relieved that her mood has changed, and he nods and takes a right.

"Well, that means I can get away with wearing summer dresses, and I have several strapless ones I can get into, so I'll be able to wear fresh clothes tomorrow! While you, unfortunately, will be stuck in that shirt and jacket for a while."

He doesn't appear to take notice of the snipe. "A strapless dress?"

She sighs. "Yes Chad, a strapless dress."

"Isn't that like a boob-tube?"

She stares at him in astonishment for a moment, and then laughs – she can't help herself (because he mixes handsome and arrogant with naivety and ignorance and it's actually kind of cute).

He grins slightly too.

"Yes, Chad, it's a boob-tube. What are you, five years old?"

"Maybe," he says, and finally pulls up next to her house. He forces her to wait as he gathers up his keys and deliberately takes ages to get out of the car, knowing how annoying she finds it.

"I'm sorry, please take longer," she says, and he smirks and finally gets out of the car. She hurries to the front door and opens it quickly. "C'mon, we need to go upstairs," she tells him, and he follows her up the narrow staircase and into a yellow bedroom, scattered with books and CDs, and stares around as she starts throwing things into a suitcase, forcing him to wander from side to side, moving with her as she gathers things up.

"I like your room," he says after a long silence, and Sonny glances at him in surprise.

"You do?" She's trying not to sound too pleased, but some of it might have shown through because he winks at her briefly and then sweeps the room with his eyes one more time.

"Although the yellow is slightly cliché," he tells her, and she sighs.

"And once again, you ruin the niceness of the moment," she says, and then leads him back downstairs, unaware that he's swiped a book off the bed until they reach the car again and he tosses it down.

"Chad, why'd you steal my book?"

"I'm intrigued as to what the angelic Sonny Munroe is reading," he informs her, and pulls back out onto the road. She snatches the book up and tucks it away into her handbag, careful not to move the arm that's attached to Chad in case she causes him to swerve and kill them both.

"Wow, guilty about it or something?" he asks as they're driving, and she ignores him. He moves his attached hand to poke her, and she moves away from the contact.

"Grow up," she says, and he laughs and turns his attention back to the road. She thinks that maybe he mutters something under his breath, but she can't be sure and she doesn't want to ask in case he thinks she's interested in what he has to say (even though she really, really is).

They reach his house again, and go inside to the kitchen, and they stand awkwardly for several minutes (and she's thinking that there's far too much awkward at the moment).

But then he turns to her, a slight smile lighting up his face, and Sonny flicks her eyes away, because suddenly her face is heating up (and her whole body is thrummimg with energy, warmth, and she doesn't know why).

He moves closer, closer, and her breath is getting shorter, and then … he dips his finger in the tomato sauce his mother has left and smears it right across her face.

~x~

**I hope you guys enjoyed it! Feel free to review with any suggestions/requests, I'll do my best to work them in.**

**And please don't favourite without reviewing, it's beyond frustrating.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks so much for all the reviews!**

"_But it's just the price I pay; destiny is calling me – open up my eager eyes" – Mr. Brightside, The Killers_

Sonny just looks at him. "Really, Chad?" she says, raising a hand to wipe the red sauce off her face, and he grins easily.

"Really."

She rolls her eyes and finds a towel to wipe her hands with, then suddenly dips it in the full sink and flicks him with it.

"Um, _ow_?!" Chad protests as it whips against him, and then Sonny innocently uses the wet end to clean the rest of her face. He glares at her, and there's a little spark of mischief in her eyes that he finds slightly captivating (but that's because he didn't realise she was capable of mischief, not because it makes her whole face light up and look really pretty and lively).

"So, Cooper, what is there to eat in this place?" she asks, moving towards the fridge hopefully. Chad follows her, because he doesn't have a choice, and peers in next to her. She shoots him a quick glance, and their faces are very close together.

"Uh, Chad?" she says, as they both stare at a block of cheese.

"Yes?" he replies, flicking his hair out of his face (and trying to ignore her fresh scent that makes him think of sunshine and rainbows and happiness).

"Why have you invaded my personal bubble?"

"I'm intrigued as to what you're planning to cook for me."

She scowls then, pulling back and slamming the fridge door, almost causing him to smack into the cheese they'd been examining only moments before.

"And why am I cooking?" she demands, attempting to cross her arms but unable to because Chad is holding his firmly behind his back, which means her handcuffed arm is pretty much immobile. He knows this, and takes a step back. She stumbles forward and headbutts his stomach by mistake.

"Jesus _Christ_!" he shouts as he falls backwards in his surprise, Sonny landing heavily on top of him, knocking the air out of his body. As soon as he can breathe again he starts to curse.

"Just get the bloody _fuck _off of me and watch where the hell you put your damned clumsy feet!" he shouts, and she pushes herself into a sitting position hurriedly (and he's thankful because he's feeling strange and trembly but upset because without her so close he feels kind of empty).

"Jeesh, Cooper, it was you that pulled me over in the first place. And with these things on if you fall, I fall, so _you _should be the one watching where you put your fucking feet!"

In an instant he's totally calm again, smoothing down his hair, because he knows that will annoy her the most. "Relax, Sonny. Don't have a cow."

At that auspicious moment Sonny's phone goes off, and they both listen to the mooing noise coming from Sonny's pants for exactly 5.342 seconds before bursting into hysterical laughter. Chad finds Sonny clutching onto his shoulder, extremely short of breath, moaning about her sides hurting while muttering "cow" every now and again, and he realises that his stomach hurts with the laughter too. All in all, it's quite a nice feeling.

When they finally manage to calm down, almost twenty minutes later, they get up off the floor and Sonny dials the number that called her and sits down at the kitchen table while Chad leans against the counter, forcing her to bend her arm behind her, eavesdropping on her conversation.

"Mom?" she says, and Chad automatically cringes away as he hears Connie's voice mumbling on the other end of the phone – he's had run-ins with Sonny's mother before, and they usually give him nightmares. Turns out Sonny's mom isn't a great fan of self-absorbed tween heartthrobs. Chad guesses that's where Sonny gets it from.

"You're not going to be back for another week?" Sonny is saying now, and Chad tunes his attention back in to her conversation. He can't pick out Connie's words, but he's sure she's complaining and/or nagging. It's all she ever does.

"Okay. Yeah, I guess I can stay with a friend if I get lonely. Don't worry, Mom," Sonny says, and Chad rolls his eyes as Connie's tone gets panicked on the other end of the line. As the conversation drones on and on, and Connie continues to fret about the fact that Sonny could be inviting boys over (which Sonny vehemently denies – truthfully) Chad finally decides that he's had enough and is bored of listening to Sonny's mother whine.

"Sonny, put the phone down and come back to bed," he says in a slow drawl, his mouth right next to the mouthpiece, and then snatches it and hangs up.

Sonny is left gaping as he smirks, brilliantly pleased with himself. Then the phone moos again, and they exchange a _look_, and Sonny makes a sudden grab at the phone.

Unfortunately for her Chad sees it coming and holds it up high, out of her reach, and she can't reach it anyway because of the handcuffs. Then Chad does something he knows will irritate her even more, and slides the phone down to the other end of the table. Sonny attempts to run for it, but Chad doesn't budge and she can't get any closer to it.

She curses, reaching for it, her fingertips about five inches away as it moos impatiently.

Chad takes a step back, and she is forced to move back also or risk falling over. She shoots him a furious glare, and he just blinks innocently back. With a sigh, Sonny leans forward and takes a step forward, pulling with all her might. Chad pulls in the other direction, and they both pull with all their strength.

Sonny suddenly lets up the pressure on her end and Chad falls backwards again, only this time he saves himself from falling by grabbing onto the counter, and Sonny takes advantage of his distraction to dive for the phone. She gets to it and calls her mother hurriedly.

"Mom? I'm sorry about that, Nico was … no, Nico's not at home with me, I'm hanging out late at the studio. Yeah. Tawni and Zora are here too … Mom, I'm sixteen, I'm not going to – huh? Yes, I understand … Mom, I swear you can trust me. Okay. Sure."

Chad rubs the painful spot where he hit his back and waits impatiently for her to finish the call. When she finally hangs up, she levels an evil glare at Chad that he returns in full. They stare at each other for several minutes, and then Sonny sighs and returns to the fridge, Chad tagging along behind her.

"Stay out of my way while I'm cooking," she says firmly, and he just rattles the cuffs. She raises an eyebrow. "You know what I mean."

She sets a saucepan of water, instructs Chad not to touch the hot handle, and then starts throwing a sauce together in a frying pan. Chad leans over occasionally, to see how it's going, but just gets jabbed in the ribs with first a spatula, then a spoon.

"Um, ow," he says, after he gets hot sauce splashed into his face, and Sonny smiles slightly.

"That's your fault for leaning over the pan. I've _told _you not to about a zillion times."

"So?"

"I'm not starting an argument with you now, Chad."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm busy making dinner!"

He thinks about pushing it but she's got that steely glint in her eye so he doesn't bother, and instead leans against the counter, moving his hand as she requires it, and attempts to wait patiently. Of course, being Chad Dylan Cooper makes it hard to wait patiently, and so he distracts himself by watching Sonny cook.

Her hair is falling out of the plait she had it in, and her face is flushed from the heat of the cooking (but Chad quite likes her looking flushed).

He watches for several more minutes, and then she's finally done and so he waits while she serves it up onto plates, and then sits down and digs in.

"You know, Munroe," he says conversationally in between mouthfuls. "You're not that bad a cook."

"Gee thanks," she replies, and eats deliberately slowly, forcing him to wait for her for ages. He's fidgeting by the time she's done, and once they're worked together (Chad still doesn't know how she tricked him into doing that) to wash the plates, they argue over what to do for a while and then settle for watching TV.

After a brief fight over the remote (which Chad wins, of course), he flicks over to a soap opera. Sonny watches in apathetic disgust for about five minutes.

"You actually enjoy this stuff?" she asks in astonishment, and he grins.

"No, but you don't, and that's good enough for me."

She scowls and makes a successful grab for the remote. She switches over to a sitcom, and Chad is debating whether to keep watching the show (because secretly he's enjoying it) or to annoy her and grab the remote back. Sonny decides for him by sitting on the remote, rendering it inaccessible.

So Chad watches what feels like several hours of sitcoms, and then they have a new problem to address. Sonny gets up and stretches, and then says, "Well, I think I'll just have a shower before I turn in."

Chad gets up to and stares at her in amazement. "Sonny, I am not, repeat _not_, showering with you."

She thinks about that for a moment. "Show me your bathroom," she says after a while, and Chad sighs and leads her up the stairs to the bathroom. It's very luxurious, and after Sonny has gazed around in admiration for a minute or two, she turns to Chad.

"Well, you can wear a blindfold and sit on the bath while I shower," she says, explaining the tactics carefully, as though he's an idiot. He thinks about it for a minute.

"I have to wear a blindfold?"

"Of course, you pervert!" she shouts, with a slight grin, and he shakes his head.

"No, that's not what I meant," he protests (although maybe it _slightly _was). "I mean it will mess up my hair."

"Oh dear," Sonny says, pouting thoughtfully. "Let's think about that … hey, you know what? I don't care. Suck it up, pretty boy."

And so ten minutes later Chad is sitting on the edge of the bath, blindfolded with one of his own ties, listening to the sound of running water behind him, his arm bent in a strange position behind his back.

"Hurry up, will you?" he says crossly, and he hears the shower curtain rattle back slightly (and suddenly he realises that he's only about a metre away from a _naked _Sonny). He gulps slightly as a wet hand ruffles his hair.

"Deal with it, Cooper," she says, and then the shower curtain rattles closed and he's left trying to think about anything but the naked girl in his shower.

By the time she gets out, he pulls the blindfold off, blinking in the light, to find her wrapped in a towel staring mournfully at the t-shirt she'd had to rip to get out of. He also notices the ripped bra, that she had to detach a strap from, and glowers. It's like she was deliberately taunting him.

"Put your blindfold back on so I can get dressed," she demands, and he sighs and holds tie over his eyes so she can knot it at the back again. His arm moves as she dries herself and slides into her boob-tube dress (Chad snickers silently at the memory) and then she pulls the tie of for him and holds it over her own eyes.

"Your turn," she says, and he sighs and pulls the tie away.

"Sonny, as we've already established, I can't get out of my jacket and shirt, which might make showering a little difficult, don't you agree?"

She nods thoughtfully. "You should cut the arm of your jacket so you can get out of it, though. It'll be really uncomfortable to sleep in."

"I don't care," he says (because he's a _man _and men don't worry about silly little things like that).

"Well, I do," she replies, and he stares at her in astonishment for a second (and his heart is beating, wildly hopeful). "If you keep me awake all night tossing and turning I'll knock the stuffing out of you," she tells him, and his little bubble of hope instantly bursts.

"How thoughtful of you, Munroe," he says, and she grins and then, finding a pocket knife in the cupboard above the sink (she doesn't ask why it's in there, which is a relief because Chad can't remember), she slits the seam of Chad's expensive jacket, then pulls it off him before he can protest.

"Hey! That was _designer_," he shouts, picking it up off the floor.

"You can get it fixed," Sonny says with an exasperated tone, and Chad scowls.

"Where?"

"I don't know, you're the one with all the contacts," she shoots back, and then drags him back down into the hallway so she can grab her toothbrush, then back upstairs and they clean their teeth side by side.

Then they go into Chad bedroom and as he slides into a pair of comfortable pyjama bottoms, she pulls all the cushions off his window-seat and starts piling them up down the middle of the bed.

"What are you – oh, right, pillow barricade," Chad says, and sits waiting for her to finish. Eventually she's done, and Chad flicks a switch by his side of the bed and the curtains swish shut, and then he claps and the lights go out.

Sonny claps then, and Chad groans as the lights flicker back on.

"Traitors," he mutters crossly, and Sonny reaches to the cabinet on her side of the bed and pulls out a book.

"You're kidding me, right?" Chad says, and claps again.

After a brief clapping war Sonny concedes defeat (because they're both kind of tired) and they lie in darkness and silence for several minutes.

"Night, Chad," Sonny says quietly, and Chad mutters something indistinguishable and tries to roll over, but Sonny refuses to move her arm so he's forced to lie on his back, his arm extended over the top of the ridiculously high pillow barricade that he can't even see her over the top of.

He sighs and closes his eyes. Sonny's breathing is already slowing down, and he sits up carefully and looks at her. She's got a slight smile on her face, her eyes closed, her shoulders bare above the covers, her wet hair splayed out over the pillow and suddenly Chad feels a strange wave of longing that he battles down.

_Get a grip, CDC, you're a man-who-needs-no-woman. Don't even look at her, and you'll be fine._

Yeah, he wishes.

~x~

**Another mega-fast update!**

**They're going to probably slow down now because my workload is still pretty high and I've been putting it off to write this. But I promise to go no longer than a week without updating wherever possible.**

**So review and make me happy!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Three exams left! I'm so happy!**** And you guys are literally blowing me away with your manic reviewing! Thank you all so much!**

"_Your say, your call; every crack, every wall. Pick a side, pick a fight – but get your epitaph right." – Take Back The City, Snow Patrol_

Chad wakes up first the next morning, and is somewhat surprised to see Sonny still fast asleep next to him. He watches her for a minute or two, then gets bored and reaches over the pillow barricade to poke her. She mumbles and tries to roll over but gets tangled up in the blankets and with a squeak rolls over and falls off the bed.

Chad is dragged over to the other side, half-on the pillow barricade, and sighs.

"Sonny, are you always so clumsy?"

She sits up and wipes her eyes with a yawn. "Only in the mornings."

"Well, can you ditch the clumsiness? Only we've got about an hour to get ready and to the studios."

She sighs and stands up, and he slides off the bed.

"Since when do you care about punctuality?"

"Well, I don't, but I know you do and seeing as we're handcuffed together, I figured you'd prefer it if we _both _got there on time."

"You make a good point," she says blearily, and yawns again. Chad knots his tie over her eyes so he can get changed into fresh trousers and underwear (the shirt is crumpled but it's not like he has a choice).

Suddenly Sonny falls sideways and he just manages to catch her, but then trips over his trousers, which are only half-on, and they both fall heavily backwards onto the bed. He rolls off her and sighs.

"Sonny, you have serious issues."

She snores gently and he finishes pulling his trousers on before whipping the tie off her face. To her amazement, she's fallen back to sleep. He sighs again and shakes her, less than gently.

"Really, Sonny?"

"Ow, hey! Don't shake me!"

"You fell _asleep_? Standing up? Are you mentally retarded?"

She shrugs and finds the tie to cover his eyes.

"No, but I had my eyes shut under the blindfold and I was so tired I just fell back to sleep."

"While you were standing up?" he asks again as she slides quickly into a clean dress, folding the crumpled one onto the edge of his bed, and then yanks the blindfold away from his face rather harshly.

"_Ow!_" he protests, clutching onto his hair.

"Cooper, you have a serious bedhead," she says with a huge grin, and he shoots straight over to the mirror to fix it with a little cry of despair. Sonny puts on a little make-up, ties her hair back into a ponytail, and then sighs and taps her feet as she waits for Chad to get his hair looking "Chadtastic" (his words, not hers).

"Are you done, madam?" she asks after she's waited f o r e v e r.

Eventually he pulls himself away from his reflection and they head downstairs to grab a quick breakfast. Sonny takes an apple and a banana and Chad finds a bottle of chocolate milkshake which he slurps from then replaces, while Sonny watches in disgust.

After they both go to the bathroom (one standing outside with the door closed as far as possible), they get back into Chad's car and head off to the studios.

"Stop tugging at my hand!" Chad complains, and Sonny puts her hands in her lap.

"Sorry," she says – she'd been absently pulling at the cuffs without realising, and it was making Chad's hand slip and slide on the gearstick.

By the time they reach the studios they have both firmly established that the other is most definitely _not _a morning person, and both are in sour moods when they finally draw up the car.

"Let's go find Marshall," Sonny says in a surly tone, and Chad slams the door of his car shut and follows her, scowling. A lot of people glance up in surprise as the two walk through the studio, heading for Marshall's office. They're not really expecting to see the two people who hate (/like) each other so much handcuffed together. Plus the black cloud of doom is kind of attention-drawing, too.

Sonny slams open the door to Marshall's office and fixes the rather small director with a glare a snake would have been proud of.

"Marshmallow, I hope to God you've got a locksmith in, for your sake," Chad says, because having been (unwillingly) in Sonny's company for the last couple of hours, he knows the mood she's in.

"It's Marshall, Chad," Sonny says with a slight frown.

"I don't care."

"Well, anyway," says Marshmallow as Chad falls into a chair with an air of boredom, and Sonny sits down with a huff of annoyance. "The locksmith will be over here this afternoon to try to get you two out of those things, so Pete and I have been discussing –"

"Wait – this afternoon? So we have to spend another whole day like this?" Sonny asks in a tone of horrified dread.

"Yes, as I was saying, Pete and I have decided that you can both work on So Random today, because it will be easier to work Chad into our show than to work Sonny into his."

"You're kidding!" they both exclaim at the exact same time.

"Alas, how I wish I was," Marshmallow sighs, and Chad jumps to his feet, Sonny right next to him.

"I cannot under _any circumstances _go on So Random!" Chad protests fiercely. "I have an image, I have a principle, I am a _real _actor! I will not go on So Random." He crosses his arms for emphasis and glares at Marshmallow.

He turns to Sonny for back-up (he doesn't know why either), but she has an evil glint in her eye.

"Oh no," he groans.

"Oh _yes_," she says with a fierce grin, and drags Chad out of the door before he can protest, heading off to her and Tawni's dressing room. When they enter, Chad trying to talk Sonny out of the whole idea, Tawni takes one look at the handcuffs, pulls out her iPhone, takes a photo and then starts laughing and doesn't stop for a good ten minutes.

Zora pokes her head out of the vent after a while, takes in Sonny and Chad standing awkwardly next to each other, Tawni face down on the sofa, helpless with hysterical laughter, and starts giggling too.

"This is your fault," Chad mutters to Sonny as her two co-stars clutch their tummies and complain about the laughing pain.

"They're probably just laughing at your hair. I mean, it is sticking up again," Sonny teases, and he drags her straight over to the mirror to check.

"It is not sticking up!"

Sonny chuckles, then abruptly ruffles his hair furiously. "Well, now it is."

"I hate you."

"The feeling's mutual," she shoots back, and they glare at each other for a couple of moments before being distracted by an announcement over the loudspeaker.

"Would all So Random cast members – and Chad Dylan Cooper – please report to the set, fully costumed up, in ten minutes."

Chad looks at Sonny and she grins evilly again.

"Please, Sonny, don't make me do this," he says with his best puppy-dog eyes.

"Aw, Chad, when you put it _that _way … it doesn't make any difference."

Suddenly Tawni and Zora are wrestling him to the ground, with Sonny's help, and pinned down he struggles as he is forced into some sort of costume, feeling very exposed as they pull his trousers off and replace them with what feels like –to his horror - _tights_. When he is finally let up, they blindfold him with his discarded tie, and he's left shaking, trying to work out if all his limbs are still working as the three girls change.

"I hate you," he says after a while of chatting and giggling, and someone slaps him upside the head. He suspects Sonny, but he can never be too sure. When they eventually finish changing he is un-blindfolded and allowed a quick glimpse in the mirror before Sonny drags him off again.

He looks terrible. He's in some sort of fashionally-challenged knitted green poncho, little shoes with bells on, a white and green pointy felt hat and, to complete his humiliation, lime green tights.

At that moment, he just wants to die.

He tries to make a break for it halfway down the corridor, the bells jingling on his feet, but a security guard grabs his and assists Sonny in forcing him towards his doom.

He tries to escape so many times, shouting oaths a soldier would have been proud of, that the security guard is forced to stay on the set with him, holding him firmly in place, because Sonny's arm is getting sore from all the tugging and yanking.

As the cameras slide into place, Chad feels a sense of rolling doom, and turns to Sonny in one last desperate attempt.

"Please, Sonny, please don't make me do this. I promise I'll never be mean to you again, if you'll just let me off the set. This is going to destroy my reputation, it really is."

She just flashes him a brief smile, and then winks, and leans to whisper in his ear. "Don't worry. I know that you're always trying to promote your "clean-cut" image, so I'm – unbelievably – going to try to work this to your advantage. But say _anything _rude or cruel about me or the show while you're on air and we will _maim _both you and your reputation."

He nods, takes one last, helpless look at the green tights and then does his best to smile as the show starts.

After about five minutes of awkward standing on Chad's part, Sonny finally turns to him, the bells on her elf-hat dinging merrily.

"Well, folks, as you can see, Chad Dylan Cooper and I have been put into a rather sticky situation. Someone at this studio – and we're not saying who – "

"Marshmallow," Chad interrupts, glaring at the director.

"Sh, Chad. As I was saying, we've been handcuffed together. And Chad very kindly agreed to be on So Random today, because unfortunately there was no vacant spot for an annoyed brunette on Mackenzie Falls, and it would probably have been difficult to explain why Mackenzie is handcuffed to a never-before-seen nobody. But don't worry, we're getting untied this afternoon."

"Hell yeah we are," Chad mutters, and Sonny shoots him a quick scowl before the sketch continues, and Chad wanders around sullenly, attached to Sonny as she skips and hops and giggles like an idiot.

"Kill me," he moans, gazing beseechingly skyward, as a lively elf-tune begins to play and the So Random dorks all start dancing like iddy-biddy little forest imps. He finds himself repeating the words quite often in the hour that follows.

When the travesty of a show is finally over Chad drags Sonny back to her dressing room and rips the green poncho from his torso, panting somewhat melodramatically.

"Chill, drama queen," she says with a sigh as she slides her strapless dress back on under her elf outfit, then pulls the elf outfit off. Chad can only watch in admiration as she changes completely without once flashing him – he decides it's a girl talent, because he's never managed that before.

"C'mon, Cooper, hurry up, I want some lunch."

"Shut your eyes," he says, and she sighs and covers her eyes with her hands.

"No peeking!"

"Chad, why would I want to peek at _you_? And who even says 'peek' anyway? What are you, five?"

He ignores this comment and – for some odd reason – trusts her. He changes out of the hideous tights quickly and pulls his trousers back on, then graciously allows Sonny to remove her hands from her face.

"Wow, thanks," she says sarcastically, and he grins.

"You're welcome, Munroe. Now, food time."

~x~

**Hello again everyone! I'm sorry about the suckiness of this chapter, and I know it's short. I just figured you'd rather have a short update than no update at all. My exams are kinda killing me.**

**And pleasey please nominate me for the SWAC awards! That would mean an awful lot xD**

**Also a cameo appearance in the next chapter for the first person to figure out what's different about this chapter to the previous three.**

**And when I say please don't favourite without reviewing I extend that to please don't put this on story alert without reviewing either. I mean, I 'm really flattered that you like it enough to favourite/alert it, but I'd really love to know why. It will only take you a couple of seconds, and it brightens up my day!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry about the horrific delay, guys, I've been suffering from the most appalling writer's block.**

"_Stay close to me, watch the world come alive tonight." – Take That, Greatest Day_

"Chad, move over, your elbows are digging into me."

"Well _your _elbows are digging into _me_."

"So _move over_."

"You move over."

"You."

"_You_."

"_You_."

"God, you're so annoying!"

"Right back atcha, jerkface."

"Jesus Christ! I cannot stand another _second_ of this."

Chad leaps to his feet, abandoning his tray of food, and drags a protesting Sonny along the corridors.

"I hate you," she mutters mutinously. They have now established that Chad is the stronger of the pair, so where he goes, Sonny has to follow. (this is doing wonders for Chad's ego.)

"C'mon, weakling," he tosses back over his shoulder. This earns him a kick in the shin.

"Hah," Sonny says in triumph as he stumbles to a halt and almost trips.

"That was totally unnecessary," Chad complains, rubbing the sore spot on his leg and glaring at her.

"Listen, Chad, if we don't stop sniping at each other we're going to kill each other before we can get out of these things. Can we just try to get along? Just for one afternoon?"

He pauses to think about it. (because secretly he wants the opportunity to show Sonny how nice he can be.)

"Okay, deal. But you have to do this my way, okay?"

She crosses her arms, forcing him to bend unnecessarily. "And what's 'your way'?" she asks with narrowed eyes.

"We're getting the hell outta this place, and we'll go into the town. Shopping maybe. And coffee."

She stops to think about it. (and inside Chad's begging her to accept.)

Eventually she opens her mouth to speak. "You have a deal. Only, I just want you to think about the paparazzi for one second."

"Screw the paparazzi. Let them take their photos and draw their own conclusions. If they draw the wrong ones we'll sue them."

Sonny laughs slightly, and allows herself to be dragged out of the studios and into Chad's car. A lone photographer watches their erratic progress across the carpark in astonishment. They deviate from their path when one tugs on the other to irritate them, stop when one refuses to go any further, and then break into a run when they notice the photographer.

Chad slides into the car first, and Sonny leaps in after him, and then they blaze away down the road. The photographer is so amazed at the sight of Chad Dylan Cooper and Sonny Munroe holding hands (because that's the only explanation, right?) that he totally forgets to pick up his camera and capture this unbelievable turn of events.

Chad pulls the car to a halt outside an expensive-looking designer shop that Sonny would never usually dream of entering, and as they enter, Sonny looking around and feeling conspicuous, Chad wanders straight up to the paydesk.

"Hey, Monique," he says casually, leaning on the desk and grinning as the pretty blonde behind it jumps and quickly gets to her feet.

Sonny stifles an eye-roll as the blonde immediately starts flirting with Chad.

"Sonny, c'mon, I want to try this new suit on."

He starts to drag her over to the fitting rooms, but Sonny grabs onto the desk and prevents him from moving. The staff in the shop gaze on in astonishment as they notice the cuffs for the first time.

"Chad, there's no point, you can't get the suit on anyway."

"I can get the trousers on."

"Well, I'm not standing around outside changing rooms all afternoon waiting for _you_."

Chad laughs. "Sonny, you've spent your whole _life _waiting for me, you're just not in tune enough to realise it yet." He grins broadly at her look of impotent outrage, and grasps the opportunity to slip inside the dressing room and yank the curtain shut.

Sonny sighs and leans against the wall to wait, tapping her foot.

"Ow, Chad, my arm's not supposed to bend that way!"

"Get over it, diva."

Twenty minutes and several arguments later, they leave the shop, Chad carrying a bag, and head off down the road. Many shoppers turn to gaze in astonishment as the two walk casually along, Sonny sipping on a smoothie she grabbed from a stall.

Whispers surround them until they reach another shop and enter, and once again Sonny is forced to wait around for Chad.

After many shops and long periods of total boredom, Sonny demands to be allowed to pick the next shop.

"Okay, fine," Chad sighs, dumping his shopping bags on one of the security guards he called just to do that job for him. The burly guard heads back to the car, and Sonny tows Chad towards a shop that he can't quite read the sign on.

"No. No way. I will _not _go into Topshop."

"I'm afraid, Chad, that you don't have a choice."

"No, please, no," Chad begs, trailing off as they entered the store. He waits, shoulders hunched, dieing of mortification as Sonny slowly ponders all the clothes in the store.

He hopes (in vain) that they won't be noticed, that he can get out of there before he is spotted. No such luck.

"OhmiChad!" a random girl screams, and Chad's head immediately whips around for the nearest escape route. Unfortunately, it's quite a distance to the door, and girls are closing in from all directions.

"Ohmigod, Chad, I love you so much! Sign my shirt?"

"Chad, will you marry me? I've been in love with you since, like, forever."

"Sign my forehead! Sign my forehead!"

"I love you even better than I love Twilight!"

"Wait until I tell my friends that I saw the actual _Chad Dylan Cooper _in Topshop! They'll be _so _jealous."

"Chad, you actually have to marry me, I think I'll die otherwise."

"Here, let me have a picture taken with you."

"Here's a pen, can I have your autograph? Here, write it on my arm."

"Ohmygosh, I can't believe I'm really seeing _Chad Dylan Cooper _in the flesh!"

"Chad, you have to sign my bag!"

"I think you're so much better than Edward Cullen, Chad, I really do. Marry me?"

Chad just stands, slightly stunned, as the girls swarm him. (and the only thing running through his head is '_who the hell is Edward Cullen?_')

Sonny is partially hiding behind the clothes rack, laughing her head off as Chad wearily begins to sign clothes, bags, skin … anything that is pushed towards him.

Eventually, though, one of the fangirls notices that Chad is only using one arm to sign, and that the other is bent backwards and attached to a silver pair of handcuffs, and that the other is attached to none other than Sonny Munroe.

"Ohmigod, Chad's on a _date _with Sonny Munroe!" the fangirl shrieks, and every single girl lifts up a camera phone and snaps a picture. Chad, seeing Sonny tremble, suddenly wants nothing more than to get away, and so puts his arm around her and together they force their way out of the store.

They meet up with one of Chad's security guards outside, who walks behind them and wards off the occasional stray fan. Chad still has his arm around Sonny, and he realises this, and that her arm is bent awkwardly, so he removes it. (and she'll never know how hard that was for him.)

"I'm sorry I wanted to go into Topshop, Chad," she says quietly, and Chad can tell by the paleness of her face and the slight shaking of her hands that she's never been mobbed like that before.

Without even realising he's doing it, he takes her hand and squeezes it.

"That's okay, Sonny. It was my fault for suggesting we come out at all."

She's silent for a few moments. (and Chad can't feel anything but her hand in his and the heat of her body as she walks so close to him.)

They head back towards Chad's car, and slide into it. Sonny releases Chad's hand quietly, and Chad takes the hint.

"Tell you what, let's go on a drive."

"Where?"

"Anywhere."

She thinks about it for a long while, until Chad gets exasperated.

"God, Sonny, you don't have to over-think everything so much! Just live, for a change. Don't be so stuffy."

She looks slightly hurt, and Chad feels, instead of the usual spike of malicious pleasure, somewhat … _guilty_. But there's no way he could ever admit that, so he just revs the engine and pulls out of the parking lot, the security guard with all his purchases going in the other direction to drop things off at his house.

"Okay, let's drive," Sonny says, "but we have to be back in time for the locksmith person to come."

"I know," Chad replies, and takes a left and they blaze off into the countryside. They drive for what must be hours, and Chad eventually pulls up next to a woodland. He kills the engine and gets out, Sonny right behind him.

"Where are we going?"

"There's a place I want to show you," he says, and leads her into the trees. They walk for a long time, and Sonny's feet start to hurt, until suddenly Chad pushes some ferns out of the way and Sonny comes face-to-face with the most beautiful waterfall she's ever seen.

The spray jumps and hangs in rainbows in the air, and a small clearing with thick, soft grass lays at the bottom of the water, next to the pool. They descend together, picking their way down the almost non-existent path, and reach the tiny meadow.

"Wow, Chad," Sonny says softly, gazing around her in total bliss. There's a heady scent of wildflowers, and another smell that she can't quite place – until Chad plucks something from the ground and holds it out to her: a tiny, beautifully red wild strawberry.

"I've known this place as long as I can remember," Chad says quietly, leaning back to lie on the grass, gazing up the steep rocky walls surrounding them to see the trees outlined against the azure blue sky.

Sonny mimics his movements.

"What is this place?" she asks, and he turn his head to look at her and smiles. She can't tear her gaze away from his.

"It's what in Sweden they would call a 'smultronstalle.'"

Sonny raises her eyebrows in surprise, and Chad chuckles.

"You don't think I'm capable of being romantic and poetic? Or you're surprised that I know something about Sweden?"

"Both, probably," Sonny says with a soft laugh, and Chad grins too.

"Well, it means a 'wild strawberry place,' but more than that too. It's any place that's special and private and totally your own."

"Well, this is very special," Sonny says, turning her face to watch the leaping waterfall.

"When you find a smultronstalle, you should always take your children to it," Chad explains. "But never, ever take someone you don't love, or the magic is ruined."

Sonny turns to him in surprise, and Chad suddenly realises what he's just said.

"That is, I don't mean … no, I meant to say that …" he trails off, and shuts his eyes in embarrassment.

Sonny sits up and watches him as he lies there, a faint blush spreading over his cheeks. She can't believe his admission, and rather suspects a trick. But his look of horror was convincing, and the magic of his 'smultronstalle' is getting to her.

So, very gently, she leans down, her soft hair falling to brush against his cheek, and kisses him gently on the lips.

His eyes flash open in surprise, the blueness reflecting the sky above, and then they shut and he kisses her back, his free arm moving to her back to press her down against him, and they both feel the world explode around them.

(because this is how it always should be, forever.)

~x~

**I hope I haven't done anything you dislike, and that you can forgive me for it being so late!**

**And I realise it's very rude of me not to have updated when you guys have all made such efforts to review, so I promise to update fast next chapter.**

**Love and hugs, and cookies for reviewers!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Boy troubles plus a holiday at our internet-less house in France have added up to make me so late, so I'm veryveryveryvery sorry! Please forgive me.**

"_I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night._

_He's gotta be sure and it's gotta be soon and he's gotta be larger than life." – Jennifer Saunders, I Need A Hero_

They lie in the grass for a long time after the kiss, their linked arms just touching. They are both staring up at the sky, trying to deal with the tumultuous release of pent-up emotions, and an easy silence hangs in the air between them.

"Sonny?" Chad says softly after a long, long period of quiet.

"Yes?" she asks, propping herself up on her elbows to look at his face. His blue eyes are open, gazing into hers, and a faint frown of puzzlement creases his forehead.

"Who's Edward Cullen?"

And, just like that, the magic is ruined.

"Oh, Chad," Sonny says, laughing, and swats him on the arm.

"What?" he retorts, acting hurt, and sits up to glare at her. She rolls her eyes and chuckles again.

"I can't believe you've never heard of Edward Cullen before."

He shrugs and blinks up at her, using the puppy-dog eyes that she'll never admit to finding cute.

"Edward Cullen is a character in the Twilight series. Those are books. He's a vampire, and he's amazingly good-looking and strong and fast and clever."

"Oh. A bit like me, then? Except without his own TV show. Hah, sucker."

Sonny rolls her eyes again and lies back down.

"You need to get over yourself," she mutters. She doesn't mean him to hear, because she knows he never would change. (and she's not going to admit that she quite likes his cocky side.)

"I heard that," he says, and she smiles.

"Will you?" she asks.

"Will I what?"

"Get over yourself." He chuckles and he pretends to think about it.

"No. But that's what you love about me."

She doesn't reply, and he beams and reaches over to kiss her again.

"You'll be the death of me," she sighs softly when they eventually part, and he smiles.

"But isn't it a good way to go?" he says, moving his free hand up to toy with the end of her hair. She smiles and leans into him.

"Yes, I'll give you that. It's a damn good way to go."

~x~

They only become aware of the time when the sun has descended beyond the trees. In fact, it's Sonny that realises, and she leaps to her feet with a shout of dismay, startling Chad who's lying half-asleep, his eyes closed and a look of total contentment on his face.

"What now?" he asks in exasperation as she drags him into a sitting position.

"We're late! The guy coming to get us out of these things - " she rattles the cuffs " – was at the studios almost two hours ago!"

"Shit," Chad mutters, and suddenly he's on his feet and sprinting out of the clearing, up the narrow path and towards his car, Sonny stumbling along behind him.

"Slow down," she yells at him, and he doesn't respond. In fact, he seems to forget entirely that he's attached to her until she trips and falls heavily at his feet with a cry of pain. He skids to a halt and drops to his knees beside her.

"Sonny?"

"You bastard," she says weakly, sitting up and fixing her gaze on her ankle.

"What happened?"

"I fell," she retorts, and he rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, I got that. Did you hurt yourself?"

"Do you care?" she asks mutinously, now trying to hold back tears. He sees this and gently drops his hands down to her ankle.

"Did you twist it?"

"I don't know. It just hurts like a bitch."

He holds back a chuckle and ultra-carefully unlaces her sneaker and pulls it off, mindful of the hiss of pain that escapes through her clenched teeth.

"It looks a little swollen," he remarks, rolling her trouser leg up a little. She rolls her eyes and then sighs in exasperation.

"So, what now?"

He grins briefly and then without warning swings her up into his arms, handing her the shoe to hold. Her arm is bent painfully but it distracts her from the agony in her ankle, so she wraps her free arm around his neck.

"You know," she remarks conversationally as he begins to walk again, "I never had you down as a knight-in-shining-armour type of guy."

"Well I never had you down as a damsel-in-distress type of girl, so I guess we've both surprised each other," he replies with a smirk, and she almost shoots something rude back, but then she remembers that he is, at that moment in time, being kind and carrying her, so she bites it back.

"Well, thanks," she says quietly, and he grins broadly.

"Don't mention it. Just be ready to give me a big favour at an unnamed date, okay?"

She scowls. "Chad, it's your fault I fell in the first place."

"Hey, I'm not the one with the big clumsy feet."

"Well, I'm not the one who was sprinting at full-pelt through a woodland!"

He laughs softly. "I give our relationship two days, tops," he says, and she grins.

"So we're in a relationship now, are we?"

"Well, it's quite clear you'll pine away to nothing without me, so I guess we don't have a choice," he says, and then when she scowls he bends his head and presses a soft kiss on her cheek. "And I guess I like you quite a lot too," he admits, and she turns to smile up at him. (and he's falling harder than he's ever fallen before.)

He tears his gaze away from hers as they break through the last of the trees, and discover that it's a lot later than they thought.

"So, where to next, wonder boy?" Sonny asks as he puts her gently in the car and gets into the driver's seat.

"To the hospital, just in case you've managed to do something totally cliché and really injure yourself seriously."

"Well thanks, I love you too," she shoots back sarcastically, and he beams.

"I know you do."

They both sit in companiable silence as Chad rejoins the main road and weaves through the traffic towards the hospital, where he parks among the ambulances, deflecting angry officials with his award-winning smile, and puts his arm around Sonny as she limps towards A&E, supporting most of her weight.

As they sit to wait, Sonny is mindful of the astonished and delighted glances of several teenaged girls, and wraps her hand in Chad's. The delighted faces turn murderous.

"Are you okay?" he asks her quietly, and she nods.

"It doesn't hurt as much any more," she informs him, and he smiles.

"Good. I'm sorry I made you run."

"I'm sorry that you did, too."

"Hey!" he protests, and elbows her in the side. She grins broadly. (and every second he's with her she's taking his breath away more and more.)

After a long period of waiting, a doctor finally comes up to them. "Allison Munroe?"

"Sonny, please," she says, and Chad hooks an arm around her again to help her walk to the small examination room, where she struggles onto the bed.

"Will he be remaining with us?" the doctor asks, indicating Chad.

"I'm afraid so. We don't really have a choice," Sonny explains, and holds up their interlinked hands. The doctor grins.

"Teenagers really have an extraordinary habit of getting themselves into difficult situations," he says, and begins to examine Sonny's ankle with soft fingers.

"It wasn't our fault," Chad mutters sullenly, taking the seat next to the bed. Sonny tousles his hair with her free hand.

"It'll be fine," she tells him, and he glares and fixes his hair quickly.

When the doctor is done he goes over to his computer and taps something into his computer, then returns to Sonny and bandages her ankle with quick, sure movements.

"Well, Sonny, you haven't broken it, you've just sprained it, so be careful with it for a couple of days and then you should be good to go. And be careful in the future, okay?" he instructs, and she nods as she limps towards the door.

"Thank you very much," she says as Chad loops his arm back around her.

"No problem," the doctor replies.

They head back out to the car and Chad heads back to the studios, which they find locked and deserted.

"Damn!" Chad exclaims angrily, smacking the steering wheel, as Sonny gazes up at the building.

"This is your fault," she tells him. "You took me to that place and then got me all distracted."

"_My _fault?" he asks incredulously. "If I remember correctly, _you _kissed _me_!"

"Oh, be quiet," Sonny retorts, and Chad slams the car into gear and they drive to his house, neither speaking. Sonny has to limp fast to keep up with him as he gets out of the car and storms up the front steps and into the house.

They have discovered roughly an hour later that it's almost impossible to fight with someone you're handcuffed to.

"I'm sorry, Chad," Sonny says quietly after a long period of angry silence.

"Me too," he replies, tilting his head and smiling indolently down at her. She grins back. Their lips meet again, their free hands at each other's hair, their breathing ragged as they revel in their closeness and intimacy.

When they finally break apart (too soon for Chad), he rests his forehead against hers and gazes at her.

"I have to say, Sonny, I'm glad that out of all the people at Chuckle City it was you I got handcuffed to."

She grins. "Don't ruin the moment with sappiness," she says. "I was quite enjoying it up until you spoke."

"Oh, shut up," he retorts, and kisses her again.

~x~

After they eat dinner, Sonny has a brainwave.

"Say, does anyone in your family ever do DIY or something? There might be a file or a rasp or whatever we can use to get out of these."

Chad frowns. "Well, my dad likes to crash around in the garage doing 'manly things', so maybe it's worth a shot."

They clear away the mess from dinner quickly, and then Chad leads Sonny out to the garage. They both start digging around in various boxes and tins, until Chad produces something that looks like a saw.

"This might work," he says, and switches it on. Sonny winces at the ear-splitting shriek the metal of the cuffs produces as it resists the best efforts of the saw, until finally there's a slight tug and the chain is broken right down the middle.

They both get to their feet with a shout of joy and Sonny throws her arms around Chad.

"Hah, I can _finally _hug you properly," she says with a smug air, and Chad wraps his arms around her waist and laughs.

"Yup. Now, let's go watch a movie and then crash, I'm exhausted."

"Chad, I'm free, I can go home now," Sonny says, limping towards the door. Chad grabs her hand.

"Uh, I don't think so. Bad things can happen to a girl alone at home," he says with a leer, and Sonny whacks him lightly on the arm.

"Don't be silly."

"Oh, please stay? I don't want you to leave," he says honestly, and she sways for a moment.

"Oh, fine. But I get to pick the movie," she bargains, and he thinks about it for a moment.

"Okay deal. But no sappy chick-flicks."

Eventually they decide on Madagascar, and Sonny discovers that Chad can quote a lot of it by heart. He's just doing the lemur's line ("I have a brilliant plan") when Sonny's phone moos and she manages to stop laughing before picking it up.

The voice on the other end is panicked and thick with tears.

"Sonny? Sonny?"

"Mom?" Sonny replies, the laughter vanishing as she hears her mother sobbing. "Mom, what happened?"

There's a pause from her mother's end, and Chad can see Sonny's face falling further and further as her mother struggles to get the words out, and he's smiling on the inside as he wonders whether Connie's lost the laundry or forgotten the cat.

He's not expecting what happens next.

The phone drops out of Sonny's hand and falls to the floor, hitting the floor and dieing instantly as the battery flies out. Then Sonny crumples, her face whiter than white.

"Sonny?" he says in total astonishment, catching her before she hits the ground next to her phone and then folding her into his body. Her hand goes to his chest, clutching at his shirt desperately, as though he's the only thing that can save her. (and he's worried that maybe he is.)

"Sonny, what's happened?" he asks, cradling her gently as she sobs into his shoulder, her hand moving from his chest to around his neck, pressing herself further into him while she sobs as though she's breaking apart. (and he's terrified because she might be.)

"It's my dad," she gulps, not looking at him, her face still buried in his shoulder, her tears soaking his neck. "He was in an accident. A lorry hit his car, and …" She can't continue. The tears spill faster, her breathing gets louder and faster and Chad can't think of anything to do except to hold her.

"Was he killed?" he inquires quietly, and she shakes her head.

"He's on life support. They don't know if he'll make it."

Chad sits there next to her, listening to her cry, feeling her take shaky breaths, and all he can think of is how he knows what this is like, how he knows exactly what she's feeling. He tightens his hold on her.

"Sonny, can I tell you something?"

She looks up at him, her face streaked with tears, and nods quietly.

"I know how you feel – I had a younger sister who went into hospital. She was really ill."

"You …" she gulps and tries again. "You did?"

"Yes. She was thirteen and I was fifteen when she died."

"I didn't know," Sonny remarks softly, and raises her palm to his cheek, tangling the ends of her fingers in his hair. She wipes under his eye where a tear has spilled. "She meant a lot to you, didn't she?"

"Yeah."

"What was she like?"

Chad doesn't like to think about her too much, but he wants to distract Sonny from all the worry and pain, so he remembers for her. (and he doesn't notice how she saw his anguish so clearly.)

"She was beautiful. She had brown hair and blue eyes. She was one of those people that just lights up the room she was in. She was bubbly and bright and she _never _shut up. But she was always there for me, even when I was mean to her."

Sonny sees the look in his eyes, and how far away from her he is in that moment. (and she doesn't begrudge him that, just wishes she could be there with him.)

"It was just flu," he says, and Sonny can hear the confused tone to his voice. "One day she was complaining about a sore throat and a headache. Mom sent her to school because she figured she was trying to get out of a biology test. We got a call from the hospital in the afternoon. She was there for two days, and then she caught a bunch of other infections. She was dead a week later."

Suddenly, as Sonny gazes into his eyes, he snaps back into the present moment, and she reaches up to press her lips against his. He sighs softly as they part, and so does she.

"I'm sorry," they both say at the same time. They laugh quietly for a moment, but the sound is all wrong.

"What was her name?" Sonny asks, leaning against his shoulder as he plays with her fingers.

"Mary. The Secret Garden was my mom's favourite film, but she hated it so we all shortened it to May. I used to call her Dismay and Mayday and stuff, which really annoyed her."

Sonny smiles, and then the indefinable darkness creeps over her face that Chad recognises. He has seen it on his mother many times since May died.

"I can't believe this happened," she says, swallowing.

"It's okay to cry, Sonny," Chad tells her. "It's not being weak."

She turns her face into his shoulder again.

"Did you cry about May?"

"I still do," he tells her honestly. "When I find something of hers or when Scarlett says something that reminds me of her."

"It's just weird. I was so happy today, and now …"

He presses a kiss to her forehead.

"Me too. But you want to know something?"

"What?" she asks, turning her face so she can look into his eyes.

"I'm going to be here for you. Through anything. I love you, Sonny Munroe."

~x~

**Too angsty? Too depressing/sappy? I wasn't sure.**

**Okay, I'm sorry about the wait. I've had this typed up for over three weeks now, but I haven't been able to get to the internet, which is beyond frustrating. Let me tell you something about the French: they **_**suck **_**at sending parcels containing internet disks/cables when they're supposed to. No offence to any French people reading this ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

"_The games, we could play  
Maybe silently write us a song  
Quietly shout from the roof that we don't belong." – Pretend, Scott Porter and The Glory Dogs._

One week after Sonny's dad is hit by the lorry, Sonny has flown out to see him in the hospital. He's gone into a coma and they don't know when he'll wake up, so Sonny's mom attempts to send her back to L.A., so she can get on with filming for So Random.

"I can't just leave him, Mom," Sonny protests in hushed tones. They're standing in the corridor outside the hospital room where her dad is lying, and Sonny doesn't want to draw attention from the other people wandering up and down.

"Sonny, we've talked about this," her mom protests, dragging a weary hand through her hair. "You can't do anything to help down here – it's better if you go back to your friends and school and the show."

"I'm _not _leaving Dad," she says firmly, her hands going to her hips. Her mom sighs – that's always been Sonny's stubborn pose, since she was about three years old.

"Please, Sonny, just consider it," her mom begs, and Sonny shakes her head.

"No. I want to be here when he wakes up."

"Sonny, you heard the doctor, it might be weeks before he comes to."

"I don't care. I'm staying."

This argument carries on for a good twenty minutes, and both Sonny and her mom are really hoping someone will come along and distract them, but both are too stubborn to back down.

When _someone_ does come along, they're both so astonished that they shut up immediately.

"I hate to spoil the fun," Chad drawls in amusement as Sonny flushes and shoots a worried glance at her mother, "but Marshmallow wants you back, Sonny. He sent me to get you because you've switched your phone off and I'm on holiday."

"Why?" Sonny asks once she can speak again. Secretly she's so pleased to see him she can barely stop herself running and throwing her arms around his neck, but she hasn't exactly explained to her mother about their new relationship yet.

"Really, Sonny, I just explained why." Chad replies, rolling his eyes, but sneaking a wink at her when her mother's not looking.

"No, I meant why do you get a holiday? We have to wait for usual school holidays."

Chad smirks at this. "Well, over on The Falls we don't really conform to rules like that. Plus, I'm me, so I get holidays whenever I want."

Connie interferes at this point, because she can sense Sonny getting more and more irritated, and she doesn't really want to be in the middle of a showdown between two influential TV stars in the middle of a corridor with many small children present – especially because she doesn't trust said TV stars to mind their language.

"Chad, it's very generous of you to give up your holiday to come down."

"Yeah, he's generous on a stick," Sonny mutters with a scowl. She'd forgotten how easily he gets under her skin.

"So, Sonny, seeing as Chad's come all the way down here, I think you should do the right thing and go back with him," her mother reasons.

Sonny puts her hands back on her hips.

"No."

Suddenly Connie crumples, her face falling, and Sonny's given a glimpse of how impossibly tiring, draining, agonising this whole thing is for her. She rushes to hug her quickly, trying to give her mother support, to let her know she's going to be there for her.

"Mom, is there anything I can do?" she whispers against her shoulder.

"Go back with Chad. Please, Sonny. Please, I can't cope with this right now."

Sonny isn't certain what she's referring to, but she can't fight with her mother when she's so weak.

"Okay," she murmurs, detaching herself from Connie's hug. "I'll go back with Chad."

Chad beams. "I knew my amazing persuasive skills would bring you around," he crows.

"Asshole," Sonny mutters, and her mother glares at her.

"Sonny, language!"

Sonny glances around to see a couple of small children staring at her in astonishment and looks abashed, until she notices Chad wearing his most infuriating smirk.

_I'm going to kill him,_ she thinks murderously, her eyes narrowing. His eyes sparkle with amusement, and she grinds her teeth.

"Chad, can I speak to you for a minute?"

"Of course," he replies flippantly, and moves to her side as she stalks off down the corridor. As soon as they round a corner and are out of sight he moves in to kiss her, and she sinks into it before she remembers she's mad at him.

"No, stop it," she says, placing her hands on his chest and shoving. He backs away with that expression that says 'you're joking, right?' and this makes her angrier than before.

"You are such an ass!" she exclaims, and he looks surprised.

"Excuse me? I just flew like 3 hours to get here! I gave up my _precious _holiday time to come and see you. In what way does that make me an ass?"

"Because you're treating me like a five-year-old! Jesus, I'd forgotten how irritating you can be," she whisper-yells. She doesn't want to draw any attention to their argument.

"I'm not irritating," Chad says defensively, and Sonny rolls her eyes.

"Yes, Chad, you are."

"Take it back," he demands, stepping closer to her and glaring down into her eyes.

"Make me," she retorts, pushing ineffectually at his chest.

"Is that a threat or an invitation?" he asks, his tone suddenly seductive, and Sonny just can't take any more. She ignores the fact that she's totally overreacting, and that she's made a huge deal out of something that is, in fact, not even a something.

"That's _it_!" she yells furiously. "We are _so _over!"

Chad's scowl deepens. "We were never even _on_," he shoots back bitingly, and Sonny's face widens into a smile that's more grimace than anything else.

"So that makes it easier for us – nothing to look back on and regret."

"Yeah, I never have to admit that I went out with a _random_," Chad exclaims with a false tone of relief. Sonny's close to tears, but months of battling Chad have made her strong enough to hold them back.

"And I never have to admit that I went out with America's most hated puppy shover," she replies. They glare at each other for a full second more (and Sonny's never wanted to kiss anyone more in her life). Then they whirl away from each other and storm off in opposite directions.

---

Sonny's not persuaded to return to L.A and Condor Studios for another week. This is partly because she's being stubborn, partly because she doesn't want to leave her dad, but mostly because she's not ready to face Chad yet. She's not ready to deal with a messy break-up on top of all the other crazy things in her life, so she reasons that by avoiding him she can get rid of all her feelings for him.

So, when she's literally pushed onto the plane by her mother, she spends most of the journey sulking. It doesn't help that there's pictures of Chad holding hands with some typically pretty blonde all over Tween Weekly and the other magazines. Sonny would like to pretend that this doesn't affect her at all, but truthfully it's kind of killing her inside.

When she arrives at the studios, she's decided to be frosty and try to totally ignore him. She also intends to avoid him as much as possible.

Her plan goes out the window as she bumps – literally – into him halfway down the corridor. She's surprised to see him looking as tired as she is. They gaze at each other for a long, long time, not saying anything. He looks as though he's going to say something, and she opens her mouth to speak at the same time.

But then they're interrupted by a girl with strawberry-blonde hair who forces herself in between them and throws her arms around Chad's neck with a dramatic sigh. Sonny's eyebrows almost disappear into her hair, especially when Chad hugs her back.

"Hey, baby," the girl says, and Chad gives her that little half-smile Sonny always though was reserved specially for _her_. Sonny gasps slightly, because this is the moment where she's forced to accept that she's lost him. She misses the apologetic, devastated look he shoots at her as he detaches the blonde.

"Bri, this is Sonny. She's on So Random!. Sonny, this is Brianna. She's new on The Falls."

"Nice to meet you," Brianna says, her green eyes meeting Sonny's brown ones as they shake hands quickly.

"You too," Sonny mutters. She doesn't mean it. She's never hated anyone so much in her life. Except Chad, of course.

"So …" Chad says after a while of awkward silence. Sonny glares at him, and then puts on her biggest, fakest smile.

"Well, I'd better be getting along. We randoms have a lot to do," she says brightly, deliberately using Chad's derogatory nicknames for herself and her cast mates. She brushes past them both, head held high, the tears filling her eyes as she marches off down the corridor.

She gets back into her dressing room and throws herself onto the sofa, face down in the cushions, pushing back the sobs.

When she's in control, her brain starts kicking in again.

So she's lost Chad.

This means she can go back to hating him without feeling all confused and worried that she likes him, and without feeling at all guilty.

She grins as the cogs start ticking away in her brain, and has to restrain a maniacal cackle as the plan formulates itself in her head.

The old Sonny Munroe is back.

And she's coming back with a bang.

---

The first hint that Chad has that something's wrong is when people are pointing at him and muttering behind their hands, then giggling and walking away quickly. He doesn't really understand why. Usually he's the one doing the pointing and giggling. No, snickering. Chad Dylan Cooper doesn't _giggle._

So he keeps walking until he reaches the cafeteria, where he gets his Chad sandwich and sits down with the rest of the Falls and the new girl, Brianna. Contrary to popular opinion, they're not dating. They just had to hang out to raise publicity, and he had taken her hand to make sure they didn't get parted in the crowd, and suddenly the picture was on the front page of every magazine.

Sure, he likes her, but he's still trying to work out a way to get Sonny back. Of course, he has no clue what he's done wrong. (He's Chad Dylan Cooper, he never does anything wrong). This makes it somewhat difficult for him to apologise for it.

He contemplates this as he chews on his sandwich, trying to ignore the strange behaviour of the others in the cafeteria.

Sonny, meanwhile, is scurrying down a back corridor towards the Mackenzie Falls set as Chad sits at lunch. She's wondering how long it'll take him to notice that she's cut a huge heart shape into the back of his jacket and written "I heart unicorns" on his shirt.

She's still impressed with herself that she managed to sneak up and do that while he was being massaged, and that he didn't notice when he put his tops back on.

She's carrying a huge bucket of super glue mixed with water and blue food dye. It's a little heavy, so she has to take frequent rests along the way. She could have asked Nico or Grady to help her, but then they'd have been pushy and nosy and she really prefers to work her mischief alone.

She reaches the door of Chad's dressing room and goes inside. She has to suppress evil laughter as she drags a chair over and balances the bucket on top of the door. It takes her several tries, and she's surprised because they always make it look a lot easier in the movies.

When she finally has it balanced she drags the chair back over to the desk and immediately discovers the flaw in her plan. Namely that the bucket is balanced over the door. And that the door is the only way out of the room.

Sonny stops to think in the middle of the room for a moment. She hears voices and footsteps coming down the corridor and panics. And then she sees the window. She's just got it open and flung herself through into the flowerbeds outside when the door is bashed open and the whole bucketful of sticky blueness comes crashing down onto Chad's head.

Outside the window, Sonny nearly asphyxiates herself laughing. This is partly because Chad, swearing and staggering around, has got the bucket glued to his head, and the rest of him is blue. Sonny has to hold onto the windowsill to keep herself upright, and she pulls out her phone to record the scene in front of her.

Playing it back to a hysterical So Random! cast later, she has to admit the idea was genius.

It shows Chad, the bucket wedged firmly over his head, crashing around his dressing room shouting abuse at everything and anything that comes into his head. Then various Mackenzie Falls crew and cast members rush in and attempt to help him get the bucket off, but unfortunately they merely glue themselves to him.

So at the end of the video, where the picture is hard to see because Sonny was laughing so hard it shook like an earthquake, there is a large group of angry people tripping and sliding from one side of the room to the other, unable to unstick themselves, with a large red bucket yelling abuse from the centre of the group.

After the video has been sent to the phones of all the cast, Sonny heads off for lunch, wondering how long it'll take Mackenzie Falls to sort themselves out.

---

When Chad eventually corners Sonny later, still blue, she's unable to take him seriously. They haven't been able to remove the bucket, so instead have had to cut a square in it so he can see until they can take him to get it professionally detached.

"Hi, bucket head," she says cheerfully, stifling laughter. He's spittingly furious.

"How _dare _you," he begins, and she muffles giggles.

"How do you know it was me?" she shoots back, and he glares because he can't prove anything, and she knows it.

"Only someone as _sadistic _as you would think of gluing a bucket to an innocent person's head!"

"Hardly innocent," Sonny retorts, and then breaks into a huge smile. "And I didn't actually mean to glue the bucket to your head. That was just luck."

He looks at though he wants to kill her, so she takes advantage of the fact that the bucket limits his vision to straight ahead and ducks under his reaching arms.

"Don't look so blue, Chad," she splutters, making good her escape as he tries to chase after her and crashes into a coat stand.

She didn't expect him to be this mad, but then she's still unaware that Tawni's posted the video on youtube and that it's got over a million hits already.

"Chill!" she yells over her shoulder as she escapes into the Prop House and hurriedly clambers up into Zora's vent. She's just slid out of view when Chad comes storming in.

His face, neck and clothes are totally blue from the food dye, and Sonny has to bite her hand to stop the laughter escaping. She's never seen anyone look so angry in her life, and she's glad she's hidden.

He ransacks the Prop House looking for her for a while, and then apparently gives up and stalks out. Sonny slides down from the vent and takes a seat on the sofa in the middle of the room, switching the TV on.

"Chad Dylan Cooper in bucket fiasco" is all over the news. Sonny watches the video again and has to admit that the comedic factor of watching the world's most popular tween heartthrob staggering around a room with a bucket wedged over his head is almost unbeatable, even allowing for the fact that they've edited out his swearing.

She grins and leans back against the sofa.

Revenge is sweet indeed.

---

**-ducks for cover- I know, I'm so dead.**

**But, I finally gave xStarXStruckx her promised appearance, and I thought it was time for a more light-hearted chapter. It's 2.05am now, so I'm going to bed. Please leave a review and make my day!**

**Ellie**

**xox**


	8. Chapter 8

"_Nobody said it was easy; but nobody said it would be this hard." – Coldplay, The Scientist_

---

Chad Dylan Cooper is on the warpath. And trust me when I say that you do not want to be in his way when he is on the warpath. Hence the fact that Condor Studios is remarkably deserted for such a busy time of day as Chad storms along the corridors, heading for the So Random! set with revenge in his heart.

They're in the middle of filming a new sketch, so Chad takes advantage of their distraction and creeps round the back, sneaking up the ladder and onto the balcony where all the spotlights are. He's got a huge bucketful of waterballoons that he's lugging up the stairs carefully, and all the while he's grinning his camera-ready evil grin. He's spent many hours perfecting it in front of the mirror.

He manoeuvres himself into position and waits for the exact right moment. Sonny's wearing a white cotton dress that Chad knows will go see-through the _second _it gets wet. (And he wants to soak it for the humiliation factor only – no, really.)

So he hefts a balloon in one hand, takes aim, and fires.

An interesting fact that you probably didn't know about Chad Dylan Cooper is that he has a _mean _aim. He can hit his target pretty much every time he tries.

So, he's delighted when the balloon hits Sonny squarely in the chest, taking her totally by surprise as water explodes all over her face. (She's wearing a blue dotty bra with sheep on today, he notices.) He grabs another one out of the bucket as filming is stopped, the audience laugh and the cast of So Random! glare around in the hopes of spotting the culprit. Chad waits, and then lobs another one. This one lands right on top of Tawni's head, ruining her hair.

Tawni gives a shriek and runs off the set, crying hysterically. Sonny whips round to see Chad, smirking hugely, throw another one at her. It hits her in the stomach, and she starts yelling abuse as she runs towards the stairs, him pelting her all the while. By the time she reaches the top of the stairs he's fled, and she's soaking wet from head to toe. Her dress is totally see-through, and she realises this with a flush of embarrassment when she notices several guys in the audience staring unashamedly at her boobs. Curse her choice of bra today.

Blushing furiously, she hurries off set, humiliation complete, and runs smack into none other than the last person on Earth she wants to see – James Conroy. It's hard to act calm and collected when you're soaking wet, panting with rage and wearing a (now totally visible) blue dotty sheepy bra. She tries anyway, flicking her hair and marching past.

"Sonny?" he asks incredulously.

"Not now, James," she says icily, and disappears round the corner. Chad steps out from his hiding place, almost crying with laughter, and collapses on the floor somewhere near James.

"What was that about?" James asks in confusion, and Chad just shakes his head, unable to speak.

Back in her dressing room, Sonny slides out of the dress and into the shower, then a dressing gown. When she's repaired her hair and make-up and found something new to wear, she leaves her dressing-room and heads to lunch. She sees Chad sitting with the rest of the Falls cast, and walks past, pausing only to bend over and whisper in his ear.

"It's so on, Cooper."

A shiver runs down his spine at the feeling of her warm breath on his ear, but he just turns and raises an eyebrow.

"Bring it, Munroe," he challenges with his famous cocky smirk, and she beams.

"As you wish." She walks away with hips swinging, and Portlyn has to slap his arm to turn his attention back to the conversation.

---

It's war, now. And neither side will stop at anything other than total annihilation.

Sonny dies Chad's hair blue.

He hacks into the Condor Studios database (with help from his hired computer geeks) and modifies all the So Random! scripts.

She slashes all the tires on his car.

He puts superglue on her door handle, so she gets stuck to it.

She breaks into the Falls' set (with Zora's aid) and adds extra-fiery chilli powder to their chocolate fountain.

He sets the fire alarm off when she's in the shower.

She knots all his ties into one huge rope and uses them to tie all his castmates together.

He steals her bras and flies them from the flagpole in the park.

She publishes his most embarrassing baby photos on the internet.

He tells the press she's been sleeping with James Conroy.

She tells the press _he's _been sleeping with James Conroy.

He proves he's not gay by making out with Lucy, her best friend, in front of a dozen cameras.

She pretends to be his hairdresser and gives him a buzzcut the army would be proud of.

He hides a dead fish in her dressing room that she can't find for days.

The list is almost endless. The battle rages on for more than two months, until even Mr Condor hears about it and gets tired of it. So, they're both summoned to see the directors, and are understandably suspicious. After all, last time they ended up handcuffed together for a week.

"Sit," Fat Pete says as Chad sidles into the room, wary in case Sonny's got a prank planned for him today. She's already in her seat (goody-goody) and he slides into the one next to hers.

"So, I'm sure you know why you're here," Marshall says, arms folded, attempting to stare Chad down. Chad just shrugs, and Marshall frowns. "You _do _know. We know you do. So, we want this pointless fighting to stop."

"But she – "

"But he – "

"I don't want to hear it!" Fat Pete shouts, and Chad and Sonny shrink back in their seats. Neither of them have seen their director angry before.

"We've tried asking you to stop, we've tried handcuffing you together, but clearly we're going to have to resort to more drastic measures. So, congratulations, you two are the first participants in Condor Studios' newest program: Survival."

Chad rolls his eyes. "Sounds so _interesting,_" he mocks, and Sonny next to him nods in agreement.

"Oh, I think it will be," Marshall tells them with a slightly _evil _smile. Chad and Sonny share a worried look.

"You will be cast ashore on a deserted island in the Caribbean, with no other company. It will be your task to survive alone for two weeks out there. We will, of course, be filming you with a grand total of thirty-five secret cameras, and can drop in if something goes badly wrong. However, that will be a last resort. You will be provided with some food and basic tools – the rest you will be required to make."

Chad and Sonny gulp hugely.

"You can't do this," Sonny protests, her voice slightly hoarse.

"We can and we will – it's in your contracts," Fat Pete announces, and Chad groans in despair.

"I won't do it."

"If you don't you're off your show."

"Blackmail," Chad hisses through gritted teeth, and Sonny beside him is clenching onto the arm of her chair so hard her knuckles are white.

"I _can't_," she says, and she sounds kind of desperate. There's the sound of a helicopter overhead, and Marshall and Fat Pete beam.

"There's your ride. Have a great trip, kids. Your suitcases are packed already."

---

On the helicopter, Sonny refuses to look at Chad, and he's somewhat hurt by this.

"Sonny, this isn't my fault," he complains via the headphones they're wired up to.

"I don't want to talk to you, Cooper," she replies, and folds her arms and turns to look out of the window.

"Look, you retard, we've got ourselves into this mess and we can't possibly get ourselves out. So we might as well work together, right?"

She just turns her head, glares at him, and then resumes staring out of the window. Chad swears at her and then gloomily turns to watch the view out of his own window.

The sky brightens along with the sea and soon they're flying over drops of emerald paradise in the middle of the turquoise ocean, and Chad's finding it sort of beautiful, even though he knows he's about to be dropped onto one of those islands and lose all contact with civilisation for three weeks. They've forced him to surrender his iPhones (both of them) and all his hair products. Suffice it to say that Chad Dylan Cooper is not a happy bunny.

He sighs hugely as the helicopter starts to descend. Sonny suddenly leans over him to peer out of his window. (And his heart is thudding erratically because he's nervous, not because she's _oh-so-_close.)

"At least the sun's shining," she says, attempting to be optimistic as the blades above them stop whirring and the pilots unhook them from their harnesses.

"Yeah, I'm _so _looking forward to this," Chad shoots back snidely, picking up his suitcase as the pilots chuck them out of the hold.

"Move out the way, kids," one shouts, and Chad and Sonny, suitcases in hand, scramble for cover. The helicopter lifts off, whipping the sand into miniature dust devils as it disappears into the blueness of the sky. To Chad's amazement, Sonny sits on the sand and starts to cry.

He debates for a while, and then crouches down next to her, hesitantly putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Sonny?"

"Piss of, Chad," she says through sobs. With a sigh, he puts his suitcase down next to hers, and sets off down the beach slowly. He figures he'll go see how big the island is or something, and then maybe start thinking about building a shelter or doing whatever crap is expected of him – if he can be bothered. He'll probably make Sonny do that.

As he strolls along, he gets hotter and hotter, and he has to remove his jumper, then his tie, and then his shoes. In his shirt and trousers, he's still too hot, although he's certain the beach is curving now, which means he must be getting somewhere. With a sigh, knowing he'll burn to a crisp, he pulls his shirt over his head and drapes it across his arms with the rest of his clothes, and then resumes his casual wandering.

The sun has dropped some distance lower in the sky by the time he gets back to where he left Sonny. He can see the marks on the sand where the helicopter landed, but no sign of Sonny or the suitcases. He swears furiously.

"Sonny! Where the fuck did you go?" he yells angrily.

"Here!" she shouts back, and appears through the trees. She's changed out of the trousers she was wearing before and is now in a yellow cotton summer halter-neck dress, and Chad can see the straps of her bikini at her neck.

"C'mon, I think I found somewhere to sleep," she tells him, her eyes following the lines of the muscles on his chest before she remembers herself and turns away.

"Follow me if you want," she tosses over her shoulder. Chad, with a sigh, follows her.

She leads him into the trees, and he has to pause to pull his shoes back on in case he steps on something. She leads him quite a distance, and neither of them say a word the whole way. But then the trees suddenly thin out and they're in a clearing and there's a huge outcrop of rock that's weirdly hollow inside, like one of those fake caves rich people buy from garden centres to make their gardens seem magical (and tacky).

"Wow," Chad says, unwillingly impressed that she found the place.

"This was set up," she tells him, ducking inside the entrance. He follows, straightening up once he's inside, and gazes around. It is, indeed, a set up. There are mosquito curtains hanging to one side, ready to be pulled over the entrance. There's a shelf with various knives and what looks suspiciously like a bow and arrow, plus several cans of tinned food and drink.

"Where's the bed?" Chad asks, throwing down his superfluous clothes.

"I guess we have to make one," Sonny replies, and Chad groans.

"How?"

"I don't know, genius. You're always boasting about how smart you are – you figure it out."

He cracks his knuckles, beaming when she winces at the sound. "Right. So, I'm the man, I'll do the DIY. You're the woman, you make dinner."

She throws a flip-flop at him. Maddeningly, he catches it, and then throws it back and hastily ducks out of the entrance. She's left muttering curses to herself.

---

He vanishes for almost two hours, and Sonny whistles to herself while making dinner, pretending she's not worried about him. When he eventually swaggers back through the entrance to the cave, grinning smugly, she's almost relieved to see him – until she notices that his arms are devoid of pretty much everything that would be helpful in making a bed. Well, he's carrying a log.

"A log?" she asks incredulously as he heaves it to the back of the cave and plonks it down. He dusts himself off and strides towards where she's built a fire.

"A man can do many things with a log, Sonny," he replies mysteriously. Suddenly, everything's too much for her and she flings herself at him, punching and kicking (and occasionally biting) every inch of him she can reach.

They roll over and over in the sand, Chad shouting in astonishment and Sonny swearing and insulting him through gritted teeth.

"Two hours … fucking … _log _… what were you … bugger … hate you … two fucking _hours _… need a … bloody hell … bed …"

Eventually, Chad manages to pin her down and holds her wrists in a vice-like grip in one hand while he sits on her stomach, and reaches up to re-arrange his hair with the other hand.

"Okay," he says firmly, shifting his position slightly. "Talk. You may _not _attack Chad Dylan Cooper without warning."

Although Sonny can barely breathe (what with the fact that he's crushing all the air out of her body) she answers anyway.

"You disappear … for _two hours _without warning … and come back with a freaking _log,_ when we need somewhere to _sleep _tonight … and I'm supposed to just let that go? And get off me, you lump."

She wriggles furiously and manages to dislodge him, but starts in surprise when his face looms up close to hers.

"I may not have a bed, Sonny," he whispers conspiratorially, "but I have a _plan_."

She frowns for a minute, and then grins broadly, and matches his low tone (there are those secret cameras to worry about). "If it gets us off this island I'll swear undying love for you," she promises, and he beams.

"I already know you love me until eternity, Munroe – why would I need you to confirm it?"

"Don't push it," she retorts, and then they put their heads together again.

"So," Chad mutters, "there are thirty-five cameras out there, right?"

Sonny rolls her eyes. "This had better be going somewhere."

"And they're not only there to film us, but to keep an eye on us and check we don't get hurt, got it?"

"Chad, seriously, you better be taking this somewhere …"

"So if all the cameras were to mysteriously black-out it'd be unsafe for us to stay here, and they'd have to get us out of here, at least until they fix the cameras – by which time my lawyer will have gone through our contracts and made sure we can't be sent back."

He sits back, smirking, while Sonny's mind races.

"Chad Dylan Cooper," she says finally, turning to face him. "You are a _genius_. And I don't care that I'm possibly admitting that in front of millions of people on national television."

"You haven't heard the best part," he tells her with a laugh. "If one of us got hurt while the cameras were out, we could sue them for thousands of dollars."

Sonny takes him by surprise by tacking him and hugging him so tightly he can't breathe. (And this hurts in such a good way he never wants to let her go.)

"Operation Black-Out is a-go," he announces once she lets go, and she nods, and he reaches his hand out for a fist-bump. She obliges, and then her expression turns devious.

"So, Chad, where are we sleeping tonight?"

"What?" he asks, momentarily nonplussed.

"DIY is the man's job, remember?"

"Screw you, Munroe."

"You wish, Cooper."

---

**Hmm .. this chapter turned out weird. So they're stuck on a desert island together for an unknown period of time. Who knows what could (and will) go wrong.**

**And you are totally allowed to be angry at me for not updating for so long. I don't even have an excuse, I just couldn't get the story flowing for some strange reason.**


End file.
